Mich. Comp. Laws § 458.44
Said articles of association shall be executed in duplicate, and acknowledged before some officer authorized by law to take acknowledgment of deeds. One of such duplicate copies shall be retained by such corporation and 1 copy shall be filed with the corporation and securities bureau of the department of commerce. When said articles of association shall have been filed with the corporation and securities bureau of the department of commerce, the said persons so signing the said articles of association, and their associates and fellow members of said church, and all who may thereafter become members of said church, according to the discipline, rules, and usages of the Wesleyan Methodist connection or church, shall thereby become, and thenceforth be, a body politic or corporation, by the name expressed in said articles of association, with all the powers, rights, and privileges appertaining to religious corporations by the laws of this state.
MCL 458.44